Lined wirebound box blank



Dec. 28, 1954 w HOGAN -r 2,698,109

LINED WIREBOUND BOX BLANK Filed June 4, 1952 2 Sneaks-Sheet l NVENTOR.W////am .Hagan y Ar/fhony M. Sy/vesfer %,MrW

nrromvgrsQ Dec. 28, 1954 w. J. HOGAN EI'AL 2,593,109

LINED WIREBOUND BOX BLANK Filed June 4, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,arromvsrs.

United States Patent LINED WIREBOUND BOX BLANK William J. Hogan andAnthony Michael Sylvester, Dover, N. J., assignors to Stapling MachinesCo., Rockaway, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application June 4,1952, Serial No. 291,708

1 Claim. (Cl. 217--3) This invention relates to wirebound boxes (whichterm is used herein to include crates and other containers) of the typewhich are lined, for example with a cushioning material such ascorrugated fiber board, and which are provided with a foldable flap ofthe lining material to seal the closing corner of the box.

Lined boxes of the general type with which the present invention isconcerned have gone into widespread commercial use because of theirobvious advantage in reducing damage to soft and easily bruisedmaterials contained therein, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Insuch boxes, it has been found desirable to provide a foldable flap atthe closing corner of the box to seal off the gap which may be leftthere, particularly where the box is tightly filled and the sides aresomewhat bulged, to

preventpossible damage to the contents, such as bruising by the wirefasteners at the closing corner of the box. However, this has created aproblem in that these foldable flaps have extended beyond the ends ofthe blanks from which the boxes are made, and have tended to interferewith the mechanism which forms the wire fasteners at each end of the boxblanks.

Among the objects of the present invention is that of providing a linedbox blank of the type which includes a foldable flap of the liningmaterial at the potential closing corner of the box blank but which canbe handled in conventional wirebound box making machinery, withoutspecial provisions for accommodating a projecting flap. Another objectis the provision of a practical method of making such a box blank.

The present invention provides a lined box blank including a sheet offoldable lining material doubled over against itself along the outeredge of one of the end box sections of the box blank to form two layers,the inner one of which is secured to this box section, and the outer oneof which is normally held down flat against the inner layer but isseparable therefrom to form a flap foldably secured to the box sectionalong the potential closing corner of the box blank. The ends of thefolded section of lining material may be interposed between the sidematerial or slats of the box section and the cleats which are stapled ateach end thereof, so that the outer layer of the lining material may besevered adjacent the inner faces of the cleats in order to separate itfrom the inner section and form the foldable flap.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of an illustrative lined crate blankembodying features of the present invention and including a section oflining material doubled over against itself to form two layers, theouter one of which is shown in its normal position flat against theinner la er;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l but showing the outer layer ofthe doubled section separated from the inner layer to form a foldableflap;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the crate blank after it has beenfolded to set up a complete wirebound crate and has been filled withfruit, with the foldable flap remaining upstanding to facilitate fillingof the crate;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the flap after it hasbeen folded down against the contents of the crate; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the crate after it has beenclosed and fastened.

The crate blank shown in Figure 1 includes four sections or sidesindicated generally at 10, 12, 14, and 16, each of which includes threeslats 20, with cleats 22 or 2,698,109 Patented Dec. 28, 1954 24 stapledto the inner surfaces of the cleats along the lateral edges of the crateblank. At the inner face of each of the slats 20 a sheet of liningmaterial 26, in this case corrugated fiber board, is placed. The sheetsof lining material are of the same size as the slats 20 and extendbetween the ends of the slats and the cleats 22 or 24 stapled thereto.The several sections of the crate blank are foldably attached to eachother by binding wires 28 (see Figure 3) secured to the sections bystaples 30 which are driven astride the binding wires 28 and through theslats 20 and lining material 26 and are clinched over against theundersurface of the lining material, as may be seen in Figure 1. Sincethe lining material 26 is relatively soft, the clinched-over ends of thestaples 30 are buried into the lining material and do not project intothe interior of the crate where they might puncture or bruise itscontents.

The wirebound crate blank illustrated in Figure 1 may be formed in aconventional wirebound box blank machine wherein properly assembledcleats and slats are carried by endless conveyor bands past a transverserow of stapling units by which they are stapled to each other and to thebinding wires to form the crate blanks. The lining material 26 may belaid on the conveyor bands along with the slats 20, either as a manualoperation or by mechanical slat laying apparatus.

The wirebound box or crate blanks normally issue from the box blankmachine in a continuous chain joined together by the binding wires. Ashort interval is normally leftbetween each pair of adjacent box blanksin the chain so that the binding wires may be severed in this intervaland bent to form interengageable loop fasteners 28a and 28b at the endsof the blanks. These loops are anchored by means of prongs 280 which aredriven through the side material or slats of the end sections andclinched over against the undersurface thereof.

At the extreme left-hand end of the crate blank shown in Figure 1, thereis attached a section of lining material 32 which is doubled overagainst itself along the outer edge of the end section 10 to form twolayers the end portions of which are interposed between the end slat 20of the section 10 and the cleats 22 stapled thereto. The two layers ofthe doubled section 32 of lining material are held flat against theinner surface of the end slat 20' by the staples 30 which are driventhrough this slat, and the prongs 280 of the loop fasteners 28a, all ofwhich are clinched over against the inner surface of the outer layer 32aof the lining material 32.

The lining material of the crate, including the doubled section 32, thusdoes not extend beyond any of the edges of the crate blank and is heldsubstantially fiat against the inner surface of the side material of theblank, so that it does not interfere with the operation of conventionalbox blank machinery.

The crate blank may be shipped fiat, as shown in Figure l, with thedoubled section 32 of the lining material flat against the inner surfaceof the crate section When it is desired to set up the crate, the outerlayer of the doubled section of lining 32 is severed adjacent the innerfaces of the cleats 22, for example by passing a knife along the inneredges of the cleats, with the point of the knife scribing or cuttingthrough the outer layer 32a of the lining material. Then the outer layeris separated from the inner layer by grasping the edge of the outerlayer and pulling it upwardly and away from the inner layer 32b to tearthe outer layer 32a adjacent the clinched-over staples 30 and prongs 28cand to form a fiap 32a, as shown in Figure 2, which is foldably securedto the crate blank along its potential closing corner. In order tofacilitate grasping of the outer layer 32a, it may be made somewhatnarrower than the inner layer 32b and the slat 20', so that its edge isspaced slightly from the edge of the inner layer, as may be seen inFigure 1.

When the crate blank is folded around to set up the crate, as shown inFigure 3, the end section 10 of the blank becomes the front of the crateand the other end section 16 becomes the top, which is hingedly attachedto the crate by the binding wires 28. A pair of crate ends 34 aresecured at opposite ends of the crate by loop fasteners 36a formed onbinding wires 36 stapled to the crate ends, the loop fasteners 36::extending through notches 22a in the cleats 22 on the front and rearsections It) and 14 of the crate and being bent around the outsidebinding wires 28 of the box blank. These crate ends 34- may be hingedlyattached, oneto the frond-section it! and the other to the rear section14, before shipment of'the blanks and while they are stillflattened, asshown in Figure l or 2. If the ends-34 are attached to the crate blankbefore the outer layer'32a of the doubled section 32 of the liningmaterial is severed and separated from the inner layer to form afoldable flap, the crate end 34 which is attached to the section 10 maybe swung outwardly from the section to a vertical position in order toprovide room for inserting a knife to sever the outer layer of thelining material and permit bending of the outer layer to the positionshown in Figure 2.

The flap 32a normally extends upwardly from the edge of the frontsection 10 of the crate, as illustrated in Figure 3, so as not tointerfere with the filling of the crate. After the crate has been filledand prior to closing of the crate, the flap 32a is folded down'againstthe contents, as shown inFigure- 4.

Figure 5 shows the box after the top section 16 has been closed and thenarrow loop fasteners 28a on the front section have beeninserted-through the wider loop fasteners 28b on-the top section 16 andbent down against the front of the crate to secure the crate closed.When the crate isthus closed, the fiap 32a seals off any gap at theclosing corner 38 of the crate.

There will therefore be seen .to .have been provided a box blank whereina foldable flap is provided at the potential closing corner of the boxblank, but which normally is held fiat against the box blank and doesnot extend beyond the box blank in position to cause possibleinterference with the wirebound box-making machinery. It will thus beappreciatedthat the aforementioned as well as other desirable objectiveshave been achieved.

However, it should be emphasized that the particular embodimentofthe'invention shown and describedherein is intended as merelyillustrative and not as restrictive of the invention.

We claim:

In a wirebound box blank of the type having a plurality of box sectionseach formed of side material with cleats stapled thereto adjacent thelateral edges of said box blank, with the severalbox sections foldablyattached to each other by binding wires secured to the box sections bystaples driven astride of said binding wires and through said sidematerial, and with the end portions of the binding wires formed intointerengageable loops secured by prongs formed at the ends of the loopsand driven through said side material, a box liner including a sheet offoldable lining material doubled over against itself along the outeredge of one of the end box sections of said box blank to form two layersthe end portions of which are interposed between the side material ofsaid box section and the cleats stapled thereto, with the staples andprongs in the region of the doubled box liner'extending through both ofsaid layers and being clinched over against the outer layer ofsaidlining material, so that said outer layer may be severed adjacentthe inner. faces of said cleats and pulled away from the inner layer bytearing of said outer layer adjacent the clinched-over prongs andstaplesto form a box-sealing flap foldably secured tov said box section alongthe potential closing corner of said box blank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

